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Mactac Unveils New Cryogenic Labels

Mactac, a North American adhesives, label and packaging company, has launched new cryogenic labelstocks for temperatures as low as -320º F. Mactac’s cryogenic labelstocks are intended for harsh environment applications where labels must withstand exposure to liquid nitrogen or ultralow temperature freezers, thaw cycles, chemicals and solvents.

Successful Trial Operation of World’s First Hydrogen-Powered Trains Completed

Alstom S.A. of Saint-Ouen, France, has announced that after 530 days and more than 180,000 driven kilometers, the successful trial operation of the world’s first two hydrogen trains was officially completed at the end of February.

VTT to Build Finland’s First Quantum Computer, Seeks to Bolster Finland’s and Europe’s Quantum Competitiveness

VTT Technical Research Center in Espoo, Finland, has launched a project to acquire Finland’s first quantum computer. The first phase of this three-phase project seeks to bolster Finland’s ability to design and build quantum computers and to create a competence base for future applications. The design and construction of the...

Coregas Supporting Coal-to-Hydrogen Project in Australia

A world-first project in Victoria, Australia, that will convert brown coal to hydrogen for export to Japan is being supported by the only Australian-owned industrial gas company, Coregas. The Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) project will see liquefied hydrogen produced from Latrobe Valley brown coal transported to Japan for use...

Scientists Use Light to Accelerate Supercurrents, Access ‘Forbidden’ Light, Quantum Properties

Scientists at Iowa State University are using light waves to accelerate supercurrents and access the unique properties of the quantum world, including "forbidden" light emissions that one day could be applied to high speed quantum computers, communications and other technologies. The scientists have seen unexpected things in supercurrents—electricity that moves...

They Are There and They Are Gone: ICARUS Chases a Fourth Neutrino

On February 21, scientists at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) (CSA CSM) began cooling down ICARUS—the largest particle detector in the lab’s Short-Baseline Neutrino Program—and filling it with 760 tons of liquid argon. This moves ICARUS closer to operation and the search for a fourth type of neutrino. “The Short-Baseline...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Dewar

A dewar is a type of cryostat named after Sir James Dewar, the researcher who first developed the concept of a vacuum insulated container with silvered walls to reflect thermal radiation. Dewar was the first to liquefy hydrogen, and he created the device to store his discovery. The thermos bottle...

Stirling and Gifford-McMahon Cryocoolers

Stirling and Gifford-McMahon (GM) cryocoolers are two of the most commonly used cryocoolers in cryogenics. Both devices have a significant industrial base and operate at a wide range of temperatures and capacities. The thermodynamic cycles for both of these cryocoolers are quite similar. The Stirling cycle consists of a compressor,...

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

A significant commercial application of cryogenics is the liquefaction, transport and storage of natural gas. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is generally 95 percent methane with a few percent ethane and much lower concentrations of propane and butane. LNG liquefies at 111.6 K. Unlike many applications of cryogenics, the motivation for...

Latest in Cryo Central

Magnets

From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. Particle physics uses accelerators to recreate the conditions of the early universe in an attempt to piece together the complex puzzle of how we got to where we are today. These huge machines are used...

Energy Storage

From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. With power lines increasingly congested and prone to instability, strategic injection of brief bursts of real power can play a crucial role in maintaining grid reliability. Small-scale Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) systems, based on...

Astronomy

ASTRONOMY IN SPACE by Peter V. Mason, retired, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Visiting Associate, California Institute of Technology. Pmason@alumni.caltech.edu In thinking about the reasons to perform astronomy in space, we first consider the effect of the earth’s atmosphere. On a scale of decreasing energy, gamma rays, cosmic rays, X-rays and...

Cryocoolers

What is a Cryocooler? A mechanism that can extract heat from an object (cooler) and by doing so draw its temperature down below approximately 150 Kelvin (cryo). — (Courtesy Dr. Willy Gully) What is the difference between a Cryocooler and a Cryostat? A cryostat is any device designed to maintain...

Latest in Ask the Experts

Power usage: cryogenic systems vs. regular refrigerators

A recent project highlighted to me that closed cycle cryogenic cooling systems use far more electrical power to reduce temperatures by a few watts than regular refrigerators. I am sure it must be something to do with the extra difficulty of removing the heat from the liquid nitrogen or similar...

Redundancy strategies for mechanical -80C freezers

I was wondering what kind of redundancy strategies are people using for their mechanical -80C freezers? I am aware of the following. Please add if you are doing something different. 1) 1 Backup freezer for every 10 freezers – Empty and maintained at -80C at all times 2) Backup C02...

Safety guidelines for handling cryo vessels of nitrogen

I am looking for any safety guidelines for handling cryogenic vessels of nitrogen indoors and outdoors. I am especially interested in recommendations for area monitors to detect leaks, flow detection devices, etc.

Method to move components in a cryogenic environment

Does anyone know of a method with which to reliably move components in a cryogenic environment? We are interested in moving detectors in a cryogenically cooled (2K) vacuum chamber, which is contained within a larger cryostat/isolation vacuum with thermal shields. As the desired horizontal or vertical displacement is between 10...

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